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China's middle class ushered in at 60,000 yuan?
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-01-20 11:24
China's National Bureau of Statistics said in a survey that households with
an annual income ranging from 60,000 yuan (US$7,250) to 500,000 yuan should
be categorized as middle class, as a growing number of people enjoying higher
living standards.
A man walks past a
billboard featuring two Chinese characters which read "zhong chan,"
meaning "middle class" or "middle property."
[newsphoto] |
The bureau defined the standard
on a survey with 300,000 questionnaires released and conversions of
international standards, Cheng Xuebing, an NBS official, said.
"We set the number according to the World Bank's criteria of the medium level
of international GDP per capita, ranging from US$3,470 to US$8,000, and
transferred it after currency exchange, purchasing power conversion and GDP per
capital to average income conversion," Cheng said.
"The proportion of middle class in China will expand to 45 percent in 2020
from 5 percent today."
The survey, which cost at least 6 million yuan, reflected only the living
standards in the urban areas, because people who earned that much money mainly
lived in cities, Cheng said.
Lu Dale, a Chinese University of Hong Kong professor, said it was too easy to
define middle class solely by income.
"It also depends on what kind of house one lives in, consumption habits,
living environment, education level, and social influence" Lu said.
Under these terms, Hong Kong's middle class accounted for at most 20 to 25
percent of its total population, Lu said.
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